Deploying Java Runtime via Group Policy

Posted this to the Ohio TechCoords listserv today and thought it would be a good one to document here.

I’ve taken a lot of info from appdeploy.com to make a nice mst file which does a bunch of things, including disabling update check, removing the system tray icon, uninstalling old versions upon installation, and add some registry settings that help resolve an issue which used to cause the installation to hang at log on. I’ve uploaded it here if anyone would like to use it.

To get the msi file from the latest Java Runtime, do the following:
1. Download the Offline Java SE Runtime Environment 6 Update # file here. The file should be named something like jre-6u24-windows-i586-s.exe.
2. Double-click on the EXE to begin the installation.
3. When the "Welcome" screen appears, DO NOT click next.
For XP browse to: C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Application Data\Sun\Java\jre1.6.0_24\. Copy the entire folder to your network installation source directory.
For Vista/7 browse to: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\LocalLow\Sun\Sava\jre1.6.0_24\. Copy the entire folder to your network installation source directory.
4. Put the mst from above in this folder and deploy with Group Policy.